Monroe Township (Gloucester County), NJ Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Density Bonus Law (2026)

Section 175-157F of the Monroe Township Code is the density bonus mechanism for Monroe Township in Gloucester County. The bonus is not a developer incentive negotiated case by case. It is a use right called a Pinelands development credit. Under F(1)(a), every parcel of land in the Agricultural Production Districts has a use right known as Pinelands development credits that can be used to secure a density bonus for lands located in regional growth areas, with exclusions such as land owned by a public agency on January 14, 1981.

F(1)(b) sets the allocation ratios in the Agricultural Production Districts. Undisturbed uplands approved for resource extraction receive two credits per 39 acres. Uplands mined under a resource-extraction permit receive zero per 39 acres. Other uplands and areas of active berry agricultural bogs and fields receive two per 39 acres, as do wetlands in active field agriculture use currently and as of February 7, 1979. Other wetlands receive 0.2 credits per 39 acres. Under F(1)(e), owners of parcels smaller than 39 acres hold a fractional credit at the same ratio.

On the receiving side, F(3) says credits used to secure a density bonus for a parcel in a regional growth district yield a bonus of four dwelling units per credit. F(2)(c) caps the bonus density at the upper limits of the density range of the regional growth district where the property sits. F(4) allows credits from different parcels to be aggregated for use on a single parcel.

The procedure carries conditions. Credits cannot be conveyed, sold, encumbered or transferred until the owner holds a certificate from the New Jersey Pinelands Development Credit Bank and has deed-restricted the land (F(2)(a)). Under F(5)(c), no development involving credits is approved until the developer gives the Commission and the Township approving authority evidence of ownership and redemption of the requisite credits, although preliminary subdivision or site plan approval can be conditioned on that evidence before final approval. An owner who sells credits can retain a right to build a dwelling, with the allocation reduced by 0.25 credits for each reserved right (F(2)(b)).